Brazilian GP: Race notes - Williams

NEWS STORY25/11/2012

It was a disappointing final race of the season for the Williams F1 Team with both cars retiring in the first few laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix. After making a good start, Bruno Senna got caught in an unavoidable incident with Sebastian Vettel which resulted in him stopping out on track with damage before the end of lap one. Pastor also made a good start from 16th, making up several places on the first lap, but unfortunately lost the back end of his car at Turn 3 bringing the team's 2012 season to an early conclusion.

After a competitive season including victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, the team end the season in eighth position in the Constructors' Championship and now head back to Grove to begin preparations for 2013. Congratulations to Red Bull Racing and Sebastian Vettel for winning both Championships.

Pastor Maldonado: We had an excellent start moving up several places but unfortunately I lost the rear of the car at Turn 3. It was a slippery surface and there wasn't much grip which caught us by surprise at the beginning. There wasn't much we could do so we were unlucky today.

Bruno Senna: I had a good start and was racing well but unfortunately I had an incident when Sebastian tried to take the apex and there was nowhere to go. This is racing and sometimes these things happen. I want to take the opportunity to thank the fans who were such a big support at my home Grand Prix as it always makes a big difference.

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: Both cars had excellent starts getting up into the top 10. Unfortunately Bruno got hit by Vettel who cut across him on the apex of Turn 4 on the first lap and this stopped the car. Pastor was running in eighth position at the start of the second lap having gained eight positions on the first lap, but hit the wet kerb on the exit of Turn 3 which pushed him off the track and into the tyre barrier prematurely ending his race.

Laurent Debout, Renault Sport F1 team support leader: It was a very short and disappointing race for us. All the same one win and 76 points in our first year of working with Williams is a great start. The relationship has blossomed and the performance shown at the end of the year gives a lot of encouragement for next season. We will go back to Viry and Grove and continue in this vein, expecting to better this in 2013.